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Women and computing

April 1991 reprint of an article from the Communications of the ACM Journal

There is much evidence that many women going into careers in
computing drop out of academia or elect not to get
advanced
degrees and enter industry instead. Statistics also show
that
there are disproportionately small numbers of women in
the
computer industry and in academic computer science.
Many
researchers feel that girls and women are uncomfortable
with the
computer culture, which emphasizes almost obsessive, highly
focused behavior as the key to success. Other studies note that
the expectations and stereotypes of software designers are at the root
of the male bias in software. Observers contend that women view
computers as tools instead of toys. Current computer science curricula
place an emphasis on step-by-step division of functions and
women tend to lose interest. Software packages help women see the
purpose of computers and allow them to perform functional tasks
quickly.

Summary: There is much evidence that many women going into careers
in
computing drop out of academia or elect not to get advanced
degrees and enter industry instead. Statistics also show that
there are disproportionately small numbers of women in the
computer industry and in academic computer science. Many
researchers feel that girls and women are uncomfortable with the
computer culture, which emphasizes almost obsessive, highly
focused behavior as the key to success. Other studies note that
the expectations and stereotypes of software designers are at
the
root of the male bias in software. Observers contend that women
view computers as tools instead of toys. Current computer
science
curricula place an emphasis on step-by-step division of
functions
and women tend to lose interest. Software packages help women
see
the purpose of computers and allow them to perform functional
tasks quickly.
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Descriptors..
Topic: Computer science
Women
Social Issues
Statistical Analysis
Employment
Computer industry
Computer Education.
Feature: illustration
table.
Caption: Computer science degrees awarded in the United States.
(table)
Bureau of Labor statistics on persons employed in computing.
(table)
1988-89 Taulbee survey data for all faculty. (table)

There is mounting evidence that many women opting for careers in
computing
either drop out of the academic pipeline or choose not to get
advanced
degrees and enter industry instead. Consequently, there are
disproportionately low numbers of women in academic computer science
and the
computer industry. The situation may be perpetuated for several
generations
since studies show that girls from grade school to high school are
losing
interest in computing.

Statistics, descriptions offered by women in academic and
industrial
computing, and the research findings reported later in this article
indicate
that much is amiss. But the point of what follows is not to
place
blame--rather it is to foster serious reflection and possibly
instigate
action. It behooves the computer community to consider whether
the
experiences of women in training are unique to computer science. We
must ask
why the computer science laboratory or classroom is "chilly" for women
and
girls. If it is demonstrated that the problems are particular to the
field,
it is crucial to understand their origins. The field is young and
flexible
enough to modify itself. These women are, of course, open to the
charge that
they describe the problems of professional women everywhere. But even
if the
juggling acts of female computer scientists in both academia and
industry are
not particular to computing American society cannot afford to ignore
or
dismiss their experiences; there is an indisputable brain drain from
this
leading-edge discipline.

A look at statistics reveals a disquieting situation. Accordingly to
Betty
M. Vetter, executive director of the Commission on Professionals in
Science
and technology in Washington, DC, while the number of bachelor's and
master's
degrees in computer science are dropping steadily for both men and
women,
degrees awarded to women are dropping faster, so they are becomming a
smaller
and smaller proportion of the total. Bachelor's degrees peacked at
35.7% in
1986, masters also peaked that year at 29.9%, and both are expected
to
continue to decline. "We have expected the numbers to drop for both,
due to
demographics such as fewer college students," says Vetter, "but
degrees
awarded women are declining long before reaching parity." (See Table
I.)
Vetter also would have expected computer science to be "a great field
for
women," as undergraduate mathematics has been; female math majors have
earned
45% of bachelor's degrees during the 1980s. On the other hand, math
Ph.
D.'s awarded to women have gone from only 15.5% to 18.1% in this
decade,
which is more in line with computer science Ph.D.'s earned by women.
In
1987, 14.4% of all computer science Ph.D's went to women; this
number
declined to 10.9% the following year. Although the number almost
doubled
between 1988 and 1989 with women receiving 17.5% of Ph.D's, Vetter
points out
that the number remains very small, at 107. Since these figures
include
foreign students who are principally male, women constitute a
smaller
percentage of that total than they do of Ph.D's awarded to Americans.
But
while American women received 21.4% of Ph.D's awarded to Americans,
that is
not encouraging either, says Vetter. Again, the number of American
women
awarded computer science Ph.D.'s was minuscule, at 72. And taking a
longer
view, the awarding of significantly fewer bachelor's and master's
degrees to
women in the late 1980s will be felt in seven to eight years, when
they would
be expected to receive their Ph.D.'s.

How do these figures compare with those of other sciences and
engineering?
In her 1989 report to the National Science Foundation, "Women and
Computer
Science," Nancy Leveson, associate professor of information and
computer
science at the University of California at Irvine, reports that in
1986,
women earned only 12% of computer science doctorates compared to 30%
of all
doctorates awarded to women in the sciences. Leveson notes, however,
that
this includes the social sciences and phychology, which have
percentages as
high as 32 to 50. But the breakout for other fields is as follows:
physical
sciences (16.4%), math (16.6%), eletrical engineering (4.9%), and
other
engineering ranges from 0.8% for aeronautical to 13.9% for
industrial.

Those women who do get computer science degrees ae not pursuing
careers in
academic computer scinces. Leveson says women are either not being
offered
or are not accepting faculty positions, or are dropping out of the
faculty
ranks. Looking at data taken from the 1988-89 Taulbee Survey, which
appeared
in Communications in September, Leveson points out that of the 158
computer
science and computer engineering departments in that survey, 6.5
percent of
the faculty are female. One third of the departments have no female
faculty
at all. (See Tables III and IV.)

Regarding women in computing in the labor force, Vetter comments that
the
statistics are very soft. The Bureau of Labor Statistics asks
companies for
information on their workforce, and the NSF asks individuals for
their
professional identification; therefore estimates vary. Table II shows
that
this year, women comprise about 35% of computer scientists in
industry. And
according to a 1988 NSF report on women and minorities, although
women
represents 49% of all professionals, they make up only 30% of
employed
computer scientists. "There is no reason whey women should not make up
half
the labor force in computing," Betty Vetter says, "It's not as if
computing
involves lifting 125 pound weights."

The sense of isolation and need for a community was so keen among
women in
computing, that in 1987 several specialists in operating systems
created
their own private forum and electronic mailing list called
"Systers."
Founded and operated by Anita Borg, member of the research staff at
DEC's
Western Research Lab, Systers consists of over 350 women representing
many
fields within computing. They represent 43 companies and 55
universities
primarily in the United States, but with a few in Canada, the United
Kingdom,
and France. Industry members are senior level and come from every
major
research lab. University members range from computer science
undergraduates
to department chairs. Says Borg, "Systers' purpose is to be a forum
for
discussion of both the problems and joys of women in our field and to
provide
a medium for networking and mentoring." The network prevents these
women,
who are few and dispersed, from feeling that they alone experience
certain
problems. Says Borg, "You can spit out what you want with this group
and get
women's perspectives back. You get a sense of community." It is sexist
to
have an all-women's forum? "Absolutely not," says Borg, "It's
absolutely
necessary. We didn't want to include men because there is different
way that
women talk when they're talking with other women, whether it be in
person or
over the net. Knowing that we are all women is very important."
(Professional women in computer science who are interested in the
Systers
mailing list may send email to systers-request@decwrl.dec.com)

The burden from women in computing seems to be very heavy
indeed.
Investigators in gender-related research, and women themselves, say
females
experience cumulative disadvantages from grade school through graduate
school
and beyond. Because statistical studies frequently come under fire and
do
not always explain the entire picture, it is important to listen to
how women
themselves tell their story. In the Sidebar entitled "Graduate School
in the
Early 80s," women describe experiences of invisibility, patronizing
behavior,
doubted qualifications, and so on. Given these experiences, it is
not
surprising that many women find the academic climate inclement. But
while
more women may choose to contribute to research in industry, is the
computer
business really a haven for women, or just the only alternative? In
the
Sidebar entitled "The Workplace in the late '80s," women in industry
also
tell their story and describe dilemmas in a dialogue on academia
versus
industry; this discussion erupted freely last Spring on Systers.
In
addition, findings of scholars conducting gender-related research
are
presented in a report of a workshop on women and computing.
Finally,
Communications presents "Becoming a Computer Scientist: A Report by
the ACM
Committee on the Status of Women in Computer Science." A draft was
presented
at the workshop and the report appears in its entirety in this
issue.

Report on a Meeting

To probe further into the reasons why girls and women are not
pursuing
computing in the same numbers as boys and men, and to recommend ways
to
reverse this trend, a workshop was held at the National Educational
Computing
Conference last June. This year, this influential and decade-old
conference
drew 2,414 authorities in computing and education and 1,500 people
from
industry. Entitled "In Search of Gender-Free Paradigms for Computer
Science
Education," the workshop was organized and chaired by C. Dianne
Martin, an
assistant professor at George Washington University's Electrical
Engineering
and Computer Science department. It's specific goal was to examine
the
premise that the decline in the number of women selecting computer
science
majors can be attributed to a male-oriented paradigm in the field.
Martin
invited 12 scholars (See Workshop Participants, p.) conducting
gender-related
research in computer science education to present their latest
findings and
to participate in brainstorming sessions that resulted in
recommendations.
Hightlights of the day-long workshop follow.

In her opening statement, Martin noted that many researchers observe
that the
computer culture is uncomfortable for girls and women. They are ill at
ease
in a field that seems to encourage "highly focused, almost
obsessive
behavior," as the key to success she said, summarizing comments by
Eric
Roberts at a recent Washington student society (Pugwash) meeting. She
also
alluded to perceived sex biases in the profession, citing two recent
national
statistical studies of female engineering students engineering
students by
Eleonor Baum, Dean of the School of Engineering at Cooper Union.
Baum's
investigations showed that 70% of women felt they had to work harder
than
their male counterparts to get comparable pay, 58% felt that
harassment of
some sort was prevalent in the workplace, 50% felt that they viewed
ethical
issues differently than did their male counterparts, 39% felt they
would be
penalized if they took maternity leave, and a whopping 78% felt they
received
comparable pay when they started, but were not promoted as rapidly. A
third,
independent study supported the last belief; while women started out
with
comparable pay, within 10 years they were 25% behind their male
counterparts.
(Businessweek 8/28/89)

Chaos In Computer

Classrooms

Lesley S. Klein, instructor of information systems at Pace University
and a
computer science teacher in middle school and high school, described
the
chaotic state of computer science education throughout pre-college
levels.
Working under the auspices of the Board of Cooperative Educational
Services,
funded by New York State Department of Education, Klein observes upper
middle
income schools of this public school system. Despit its relative
wealth,
there is often a low budget for computer science and no curriculum,
she said.
Computing is taught by teachers' aides or by media center
administrators who
have had in-service training. "Occasionally students are fortunate to
have a
classroom teacher who has an interest in computers as a hobby or has
taken
some computer education courses," Klein reports in her paper,
"Female
Students' Under-achievement in Computer Science and Mathematics:
Reasons and
Recommendations." "Some more adventurous teachers have incorporated
LOGO or
Lego Logo programming into the curriculum, but there is no apparent
formal
plan nor carryover from one grade level to the next," Klwin continues.
There
are neither goals nor minimum standards established for both teacher
training
and the material to be covered. Not until the seventh and eight grades
does
the study of computers, logic, or BASIC programming emerge. PASCAL and
C
programming and introductions to data processing are offered in
secondary
schools, but there is still great variation in instructors'
backgrounds and
levels of competence. Some are math teachers, have master's degrees
in
computer science, or have taken graduate courses, but others are
industrial
arts teachers who have received minimal training. On the other
hand,
sometimes industrial arts teachers are better qualified than math
teachers.
Although high school curricula for computer literacy and computer
science
courses do exists (ACM made several recommendations on curricula five
years
ago and plans to revise them by 1991) there is little support to
implement
them and there is no uniformity from state to state.

But one would expect this sorry state of affairs to affect boys and
girls
equally. Not so. According to Klein, girls "demonstrate more
insecurity and
lack of self-confidence in math and science during transition periods"
like
entering middle school and entering high school. In middle school,
for
example, boys use pirated software, she says, and the girls follow the
school
rules and are in the boys' way. "The computers are always consumed by
the
boys who rush in, desperate to continue where they left off the day
before in
Oregon Trail, Karateka, or Carmen San Diego. An occasional girl
wanders in,
but would practically need interference from the heavens to gain
access to
these monopolized computers," Klein says. Given these different styles
of
behavior, Klein sees the need for a formal computer science curriculum
for
grades seven through twelve as well as mandatory requirement that
every high
school student take an introduction to computer science. Because many
in the
educational community are unaware that recommended curricula exist,
Klein
stresses the need for support for the distribution and implementation
of
curricula. In addition, there should be more uniform teacher training
that
improves computer skills and lesson presentation while
"specifically
addressing the motivation of female students."

Women and Girls of Color

The problems in computer science education for girls in well-to-do
schools
are substantial, but they are mild in comparison to those that girls
from
minority groups face in their schools. Carol E. Edwards, of the
Southern
Coalition for Educational Equity, Atlanta, Georgia, addressed
the
implications of the computer culture for girls and women of color. As
the
director of Project Micro, Edwards runs a program devoted to making
personal
computers available to minority children and to using those computers
to
teach higher-order thinking skills. The educational opportunities for
these
women and girls are so poor, she said, that they amount to racial,
ethnic,
and class discrimination. Both boys and girls of color go to schools
with
low teacher expectations, more substitute teachers, less
experienced
teachers, and frequent relegation to lower educational tracks. In
math, for
example, girls of color are disproportionately represented on slower
tracks.

Tracking itself is part of systemic problems in minority schools; it
is an
example of structural practices that remain instituted even though
they have
been shown to benefit only the top one % of students, Edwards said.
Besides
these educational barriers, both boys and girls of color face
cultural
barriers such as lack of role models and lack of parental
encouragement.
They lack science-related opportunities and often never see computers.
But
if they do use computers, they are not likely to stay after school in
the
computer lab. That is seen as scholarly and boys of color
measure
self-esteem in nonacademic ways, she said. Girls are unlikely to stay
after
school because they are usually responsible for younger siblings at
home.
These barriers lead to disadvantages that are cumulative; the
combination of
being poor, a member of a minority, and female lowers perceptions
and
attitudes toward math and computers proportional to the level of
disadvantage, she said.

Sex-Blased Software

Any computer science curriculum, whether implemented in a wealthy
or
disadvantaged school must involve the selection of software. But
studies
show sex bias in educational software. In an effort to understand why
the
comouter "is more alluring to boys than it is to girls," Charles W.
Huff and
Joel Cooper have found sex biases due to the stereotypes of
software
designers. Huff, who was with Carnegie-Mellon University during
this
research and is now an assistant professor of psychology at St. Olaf
College,
Northfield, MN, briefly presented their findings to the workshop.
Because
their results are far-reaching and possibly related to software use in
the
workplace, Huff's comments as well as those from an interview with
Cooper,
chairman of Princeton University's Department of Psychology, are
presented
here.

Beginning with sex differences in the impact of television violence
on
children, Cooper is the author of many gender-related studies and
has
collaborated with other researchers (including Joan Hall, Lori Nelson,
Diane
Mackie, all from Princeton, and Gita Wilder of the Educational
Testing
Service). Although the media has reported the general conclusion
that
televised violence makes children act more aggressively, on closer
inspection
of the data Cooper found this "true almost exclusively for boys, not
girls."
Most investigators stopped studying girls because the early data
showed no
effect so as they proceeded with their research they used only males.
"It is
an important observation that boys become more aggressive when they
watch
television, but it should be equally interesting that girls don't,
Cooper
says. He and his collegues wondered whether the difference was due
to
different processes in males and females or to a predominance of male
TV
heroes and villains. They also decided to investigate the impact
of
aggression via other media, particularly video games and middle
school
children. At that time, the early 1980s, graphics were so primitive
that
characters were neither male nor female. This allowed the researchers
to
introduce aggressive and nonaggressive video games without concern for
the
sex of the protagonists and antogonists. In that study, girls who
played
aggressive video games became more aggressive than boys did. Says
Cooper,
"the impact was greater on girls that on boys." But Cooper also
observed
that when they told the children they were going to play a video game
like
Missile Command, the boys got very excited but the girls were
unenthusiastic.
They said either "I don't want to play that," "I can't play that," or
"I'm
not good at that." In fact, the girls were quite good at playing such
games.
"They were just as good at it as the boys were," said Cooper, "But
what they
were telling us was quite significant. They were saying, 'This makes
me
very, very nervous, especially to do it in front of you.'"

In another classroom in the same school, computerized learning had
just begun
with educational software having a metaphor much like Missile Command.
"In
order to motivate kids, educators were using a metaphor or fantasy
that our
research showed was extremely exciting for boys and anxiety producing
for
girls," Cooper explains. Next, he and Huff "hypothesized that
the
expectations software designers hold about the users of software they
design
are central in determining the way the user and the software
interact."

To test this social psychological model--that expectations of one
person
about another can shape their interaction--Huff and Cooper asked
educators
with programming experience to design software for either boys, girls,
or
students. The programs for both boys and students were the most
game-like
whereas those intended for girls were classifiable as learning
tools.
"Programs written for students are written, it seems, with only boys
in
mind," Huff and Cooper Cooper write in "Sex Bias in Educational
software: The
Effect of Designers' Stereotypes on the Software They Design."
"...That is,
[male and female designers] may have been simply using "male" as the
default
value of "student." Therefore, "It is not the computer, or even
the
software, that is at the root of the sex bias in software, but
the
expectations and stereotypes of the designers of the software," Huff
and
Cooper conclude.

One obvious implication of this male bias is that educational software
may be
designed to appeal to boys "without consideration of the effect on
girls'
motivation to use them or on girls' educational profit from them.
This
certainly cannot be a good thing." Children using software designed
for the
opposite sex are more anxious after they interact with the program,
and that
anxiety leads to lowered scores in the subject the program was
intended to
teach. "However, this only occurs if the children are using the
program in
public, that is, in a computer lab with other chilren present," say
the
authors." When theprograms are used privately, these differences do
not
emerge." Huff and Cooper conclude that not only is the software
sex-stereotyped due to designers' expectations, but that the situation
in
which the software is presented is at fault.

Challenging Dijkstra:

Software Packages vs.

Procedural

Programming?

One exploratory idea proposed by Danielle Bernstein, associate
professor of
computer science at Kean College, Union, NJ, was a new curriculum
paradigm
for computer science education--using software packages instead of
procedural
programming as an introduction to computer science. She has designed
and
taught an advanced course, "Conceptual Understanding of Software
Packages,"
which requires previous computing knowledge but which illustrates
that
packages "have a place" in computer science education. Her next step
is to
design a course introducing computer science fundamentals with
packages.

According to Bernstein, researchers have shown that previous
experience,
feelings of self-efficacy, and mathematically ability, are major
predictors
of success in computer science courses. Defining self-efficacy as
"the
feeling that one is in control of the machine and can make a
difference in
the operation of the machine," Bernstein said that this factor, which
differs
between men and women, may cause women's lower level of achievement
in
computing. Previous experience often leads to feelings of
self-efficacy, she
said, and much of that experience results from self-initiated
investigations
outside of classes. "However can we offer women the same experience?"
she
asked. Again, citing other researchers, she noted that while men may
be
passionate about computers, women use computers as tools for
solving
problems. When women do not see computers as efficient tools, they
lose
interest, but when both sexes see computers as tools, they perform
equally
well. But given the current computer science curriculum including
BASIC,
Pascal, and the emphasis on step-by-step division of functions, and
formal
planning in formal languages, women lose interest, she said.

Arguing for her new approach, Bernstein said that software packages
are less
tied to mathematics and allow students to do something functional
quickly.
Because software packages "do real work real soon," she said, "women,
who
perceive computers as tools rather than toys, would see the purpose
of
computer." Initial success and accomplishing work bring
immediate
gratification; exploration is easier and more natural, and mistakes
are less
costly and visible with databases. Group work, which women prefer,
occurs
more spontaneously with packages, Bernstein added.

But is this computer science? Yes, according to Bernstein.
Software
packages can provide a superior introduction to computer science
compared to
procedural languages. Teaching sophisticated applications can
illustrate and
reinforce computer concepts like files, records, fields, memory,
secondary
storage, Boolean operations, and the format versus content of
variables, she
said. Packages involve data structures, word processing deals with
string
data, and spreadsheets have implied structures. In database
management
systems, the user actually defines the data structure, whereas with
Cobal and
Pascal the data structures are contained in the programs. "These
topics
(files, records, etc.) can be examined without the overhead of
extensive
program planning or syntax problems that can get in the way for a
beginner,"
said Bernstein. "Students may then be able to transfer these concepts
to
procedural programming successfully."

Referring to a debate on teaching computer science, which appeared in
the
December 1989 issue of this publication, and specifically to
Edsger
Dijkstra's article, "On the Cruelty of Really Teaching Computing
Science,"
Bernstein challenged his proposal to turn an introdutory programming
course
into one on formal mathematics. Such a course would use an
unimplemented
programming language "so that students are protected from the
temptation to
test their programs," she said, quoting Dijkstra. Bernstein disagrees
with
this approach because it would discourage those who wan to "see,
tinker,
experiment, and interact" with computers in order to understand
principles.
And so, she says, Dijkstra's approach would cause computer science
majors to
further dwindle.

In concluding her paper, Bernstein wrote: "The teaching of software
concepts
has parallel the advances in software development. Each time
functional
software has gotten further away from the details of the hardware,
there has
been a cry that computer science is being watered down. But each step
has
encouraged more diverse people to deal with computers. Serious
conceptual
understanding of application packages will continue this trend." At
the
workshop, she stated, "To me, (Dijkstra's approach) means, 'Computer
science
is getting too easy. Let's keep the riff-raff out.'"

Academia vs. Industry

Thos women with an interest in computer science who do begin preparing
for
advanced degrees face enormous barriers, according to Henry
Etzkowitz,
associate professor of sociology at SUNY Purchase and visiting
scientist at
Columbia University's Computer Science Department. Funded by the NSF,
his
study, co-authored by Carol Kemelgor and Michael Neuschatz, is titled
"The
Final Disadvantage: Barriers to Women in Academic Science and
Engineering."
The study encompasses women in computer science, electrical
engineering,
chemistry and physics. At a leading research university 350 students
and 76
dropouts were identified; they and their faculty were inteviewed; and
data
were collected from academic records to determine the receptivity of
their
cultures to women graduate students and faculty. "Our specific aim was
to
determine whether national background of faculty members was
associated with
bias toward women graduate students," said Etzkowitz. He found that
while
fewer women had nonwestern faculty advisors, those who did reported
less bias
toward women as scientists. This was particularly true when the
faculty
advisors were Chinese and Indian. For these faculty, women clearly
held
secondary social status, yet sexual identity was viewed as separate
from
work, Etzkowitz explained. "This separation allowed them to view women
as
scientists without confusion among sexual identity, occupational, and
social
status." Male faculty members from Mediterranean and Middle
Eastern
countries, on the other hand, were most often reported to be
prejudiced
against women. Etzkowitz also found "sexual separation of scientists,"
that
is, certain areas of science are labelled as peculiarly male or
female, which
leads both sexes to avoid certain areas. Computer science theory,
for
example, is de facto off limits to women, in much the same way as
particle
physics. But natural language is assumed by some male faculty to be
more
suited to women because it is closer to traditional sex and work
roles--like
women's "traditional expressive role and typing skills in
software."

Etzkowitz found mismatched expectations between make faculty members
and
female graduate students; female students want to be taught the
strategies
needed to compete and bolster self-confidence, which male faculty
presume
means wanting "explicit direction in the conduct of research." These
faculty
thought female students wanted to do it, whereas the students how to
do it,
whereas the students reported that they wanted "guidance on how to
succeed in
the profession."

Female students in computer science reported both overt and
subtle
discrimination with "acute consequences," said Etzkowitz. Their
self-confidence, ability to perform, and career advancement suffered.
Not
surprisingly, women seek out female faculty. But unlike men, who sign
up
with a female faculty member only after she has distinguished herself
in the
field, female students sign up because they want a sympathetic mentor.
One
solution found by electrical engineering female graduate students was
to
undertake research in industry, where they were often able to find
women
mentors.

Another factor pushing women from academia to industry is the "tenure
clock
versus the biological clock." One woman in Etzkowitz's study went to
work
for IBM immediately upon graduating and did not even consider getting
a Ph.D.
until after her chilren were born. For her, as for most women, the
academic
route and tenure were incompatible with having a family. In
computer
science, "pregnancy is discouraged and graduate women who have
children are
encouraged to take leaves of absence that tend to become
permanent
withdrawals." Women expect this and it creates anxiety. Once they
have
their degrees, going into academia part-time is infeasible and leaves
of
absence often result in permanent attrition. According to Etzkovitz,
these
women find they must choose between two approaches: they can either
follow
the "male model" for success in academia, which demands driven, if
not
obsessive devotion before tenure, and the publish-or-perish pressures
that
can lead to exploiting as many students as possible. Or they can go
into
industry, where their jobs are more nine-to-five and it is a little
easier to
balance their career and family needs. Relatively few women adopt the
first
model and more adopt the second, he said.

Etzkowitz concluded that structural barriers could be reduced with
the
development of a critical mass of women faculty and graduate students
in
computer science departments. He proposed changing the tenure
structure to
allow a more flexible timeclock and involving students and faculty in
the
faculty-recruiting process. He suggested that aggressive intervention
was
needed on the part of funding agencies to ensure these changes.

Recommendations

After the presentations, the workshop divided into working groups
that
recommended ways to expose, attract, and retain females in
computing.
Valerie Clarke, a social psychologist at Deakin University, Australia,
spoke
for the exposure group, which focused on precollege computer
experiences and
opportunities. Although this group thought it should address the
entire
curriculum through 12th grade, for practical purposes, it focused on
middle
schools only. This stage is crucial because from ages 11 to 14,
"children of
both sexes tend to turn away from computers," Clarke said. "Most
children at
the primary level have an interest in computers, if given the
opportunity,
but in the middle school peer pressure tends to direct more girls away
from
computers." In addition, at this age girls' preferences for working
in
groups and their needs for demonstrated relevance are especially
great.

The group stressed the need for a more ambitious, comprehensive
curriculum
through twelfth grade bearing in mind resources. "It's fairly useless
to
devise a curriculum that assumes you'll have one computer per two or
three
children when schools have nothing of the sort," said Clarke.
Noting
inadequate educational software and teacher training, Clarke said that
as a
result many teachers may lack confidence and self-esteem. In turn,
they fear
that their students know more than they do. So while it is very
important to
provide teachers with curriculum that is not enough; measures must be
taken
build teachers' confidence so that they use the curriculum and
feel
sufficiently in control.

Alluding to studies indicating that a girl's potential depends to some
extent
on her mother's level of education, Clarke said we must address the
more
general education of the public through advertising and the media.
Good will
and a first-class curriculum cannot counter mothers who want to
withdraw
their children from classes or even schools if their daughters do
poorly in
computers, said Clarke.

As presented by Danielle Bernstein, the retention group noted that
women and
disadvantaged groups, find computing courses more time-consuming than
other
courses and feel they do not receive the right number of credits for
the
number of hours worked. "They can get the same three credits for a
marketing
course, where they just read a book and understand it," she explained.
And
chemistry and physics labs do not demand indefinite periods of time
for
problem solving. To motivate these credit- and time-conscious
students, the
group suggested structured labs with exercises that can be finished
before
leaving class. Such labs could also reduce the computer culture brand
of
competitiveness that arises when people brag about the many hours they
have
spent on a system in order to get the best solution.

Looking at how students are taught to write code, this group
suggested
encouraging students to read programs. To learn most subjects,
especially
foreign languages, students do not just write, they also learn how to
read,
said Bernstein. "Computing seems to be the only subject where we
teach
people how to write without giving them any kind of mental model. A
better
way is [to include] reading programs," Bernstein said.

This group also addressed computer access. Since students perform
better in
private, the group sought ways to help all students afford their
own
computers for use in dorm rooms. It was suggested that colleges bury
the
price of computers in tuition so they would fall within expenses
covered by
student loans. Computers in dorm rooms would also give each student a
sense
of control; the student alone would know and have access to his or her
hard
disc's contents, for example. "When you control the environment, you
have
more self-confidence. Otherwise it's like cooking in somebody
else's
kitchen; you don't know where anything is," Bernstein said.

To encourage high school students to pursue computing in college, the
group
recommended that college computer science departments "adopt" high
schools.
Also suggested was cascading pairing; graduate students would pair up
with
college students, college students with high school students, and so
on.
This cascading effect at lower levels would decrease dependence on
those
female computer science professors who are role models, said
Bernstein.

Industry should also provide role models: there should be a
large-scale
program for guest lecturers from industry to speak to high school
students.
In addition, industry should bring in not just college but high
school
students to work on projects. To attract industry employees and
prevent them
from regarding this as mandatory drudge work that siphons time away
from
their jobs, the group recommended that companies be responsible for
rewards
systems, but did not specify what kinds.

To widen students' perspectives on career choices, the group
suggested
inviting not just alumnae who had been A+ students, but those who got
Bs and
Cs. Through their visits, the current student body would learn that
many
people with less-than-perfect academic records are very successful in
the job
market, Bernstein said. Dianne Martin then commented, "We will know we
have
arrived when it's OK for women to get Cs in science, math,
engineering, and
computer science. Right now, if you're not an A or B student, you
don't even
think of going into those fields." The women currently in the field
are the
high achievers only, she said. "We're not reaching the middle and
average
achievers. Yet there are average-achieving men going into those
fields."

Adding to that group's recommendations, Carol Edwards called for
more
financial aid, particularly in the form of grants. "When Reagan
switched
from grants to loans, it hurt the poorest people. It didn't hurt the
people
that he said were using the money to buy stereos when they go to
college,"
she said. The poorest people--women of color who might have
small
children--just did not see themselves going into that much debt and
being
able in the end to pay it off, she said. Edwards also called for
tenure and
promotion for superior teaching. "Just as we have people who at this
point
get tenure because of their research," she said, "we also have to look
at
superior teaching as a criterion for the tenure track."

In his summary of the attraction workgroup's recommendations, Robin
Kay
echoed the need for parent education. We see stereotyping in the kinds
of
toys parents encourage their children to play with, and parents often
assume
that little boys should have more access to computers. "Parents are
more
inclined to buy boys computers, and if you have a computer at home
when
you're young, you get used to it." To ensure that girls are not
excluded, we
should encourage the tool approach to computers, he said. The advent
of
microcomputers allows this now because, unlike the late '70s and early
'80s
when you had to know programming in order to use computers, with
personal
computers "we have become more individualistic. You can do lots
more
tool-oriented [tasks] with computers and you don't need to
program."

And finally, regarding sex biases in software, Kay commented that
companies
believe their market is male. Further, they think that if they
start
advertising to females, they may discourage the males, Kay said.
He
suggested trying to convince companies that there is a viable female
market
they are cutting off. "If they accept that, they'll think they can
make more
money. Money does make things happen."

In closing, Martin commented that the "most astounding two words today
were
'cumulative disadvantage.'" They indicate priorities as to where
energy and
resources should be allocated. "It turns out, that if you're a woman,
and
you're poor, and you're a minority, the disadvantage is cumulative.
That's
where we have to put cumulative resources. The research shows, without
a
doubt, that there is this cumulative effect."

If the issues discussed here are not addressed, everyone stands to
lose. The
profession could find itself asking uncomfortable questions too late
in the
game. As it is, one wonders how many ideas, that could have been
contributed
by female talent, will never surface to enrich academic computer
science.
More broadly, what are the repercussions to our increasingly
computer-oriented society, if women--about half the population
and
professional workforce--are not as prepared in this discipline as are
men?
Perhaps we will not have to find out.

Workshop Participants

Unless otherwise indicated, papers based on workshop presentations are
as yet
unpublished.